"Oh Wise and Holy Christians..."

"Does it or does it not say: MARK 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 7:10 For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curses father or mother, let him die the death It does so how am I supposed to read this huh? How should I morally accept what I read here? Jesus is saying anyone that curses there father or mother let them die the death or as the OT says "stone them to death". Please explain this to me oh wise holy good Christians. I mean gosh I am just godless heathen atheist what do I know?" Caveman 73

You are right to be horrified by these verses of Scripture. But before we look at the answer as to why you should be horrified, let’s pull back for a moment, and look at what you call "nature" and what I call "creation."

Think of what happens when someone falls off a sixty story balcony. The consequences of a human being falling and hitting the ground are horrific. Or think of what happens when a human being is trapped in a house that is consumed in an inferno. That’s also horrific.

How now would you answer someone who said to you, "Oh wise Mr. Caveman, please explain this to me?" You would probably say, "Well, that's just the way it is. That’s the natural world in which we live, in which there are consequences. So make sure you don't fall off sixty story buildings, and make sure you have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in your home."

In Mark 7, and in many other places, Jesus expounds the harshness of God's moral Law. That Law demands the death sentence for violation of the Sabbath, for adultery, homosexuality, for murder, blasphemy, and for dishonor of parents. It is extremely harsh. Harsher than the laws that govern fire and gravity. Jesus warned that the morally perfect Law demands that we give an account of even every idle word we speak. It considers lust to be adultery and hatred to be murder. Look at how the Bible says those who reject the gospel, will come under even greater wrath:

"Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:28-29--NKJV)

Jesus warned that the justice of God on Judgment Day will "grind" sinners to "powder." When something is ground to power, a thorough job is done. Nothing is left, and that's how it will be on Judgment Day. No stone will be left unturned. Every transgression of the Law will receive retribution. That's the way it is.

But thank God, that's not the way it needs to be for you and me. We have the smoke detector of a good conscience, and if we will listen to it, it will alarm us and send us to the cross. That's where the consuming fire of God's wrath was extinguished, for those who repent and trust in the Savior.